The present invention relates to bulk forming laxative products and methods for producing the same. These are typically based on psyllium or an equivalent fibrous vegetable material.
Such products typically include sugar, which facilitates dispersion of the fibrous vegetable material in water so that it can be consumed. However, dispersion continues to be and has for some time been a serious problem in sugar-free fibrous vegetable bulking products. The fibrous material simply does not disperse adequately in water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,263 to Powell et al., issued Mar. 23, 1982, and entitled “PSYLLIUM COMPOSITIONS,” wets the psyllium with a minimum of 2% of either polyethylene glycol or polyvinyl polyvinylpyrrolidone, and alleges that the resulting psyllium composition is substantially instantly dispersible in water.
Most prior art attempts, like the '263 patent, to formulate a dispersible dietary fiber composition have centered around coating the non-dispersible dietary fiber material with some type of dispersing agent. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,842, which is owned by the Assignee in this case, L. Perrigo Company, discloses a dietary bulking agent comprising psyllium powder, aspartame, and a coating of a blend of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, with a minor amount of polyethylene glycol. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,337 discloses finely-divided particles of a normally non-dispersible material in a silicon dioxide flow agent having a thin coating of an emulsion of edible fat and glycerol. According to the '337 patent, the non-dispersible material is converted into an aqueous dispersion through the co-action of silicon dioxide flow agent and the emulsion of edible fat and glycerol. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,806, in order to improve dispersibility of psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid, a film of hydrolyzed starch oligosaccharide, a mono- or di-saccharide, a polyglucose, or a polymaltose coating is applied.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for a composition and method for making a dietary fiber composition of normally non-dispersible dietary fiber, where coating the non-dispersible dietary fiber is unnecessary. Such a method would eliminate many processing steps and inherent costs that result from prior art solutions requiring coatings.